Im Getting Dummer By The Day

[Charles W.]

I'm back home and still to jet lagged to explain how it went.

Someone posted a lot of pictures of us running the Cat last week on Pprune.

So if you want to find out what happened go to the " Aviation History and Nostalgia " thread and click on " Chuck is back in a Cat".

There you will find the pictures and at the end I posted what went wrong.

Rev. Chas W.

 

[MagSeal]

I refuse to go to pprune...(bunch of prissy, love one another folks over there)

I'll patiently await your version in here. Sounds like it didn't go so well???

 

[sharkbait]

Welcome home:
Checked out the PPrune stuff.
Good to see a man who stands up for his principles to the principals! ( Hope the spelling is right)
Long time since I saw an Avalon Orange Canso. ( Timmins , early 80's I think ) It was one that still had the bubbles.
Got a circuit in a Super Canso @ Lupin mine when they where dumping chemicals in the tailings pond - Flying Fireman I recall.
Anyhoo glad you are back safe and sound. Well done!
Cheers
Sharkbait

PS Does the name Bert Archer ring a bell?

 

[Charles W.]

Yes Sharkbait, standing up for principals can be very problimatic.

However the bottom line is losing money does not come close to losing lives, at least not in my world.

It will now be up to Lloyds of London to rethink the risk assesment factors when the principal goes back and request another insurance quote. The stupid part is we had a written agreement that we would deliver his machine based on an estimate of costs and we were bang on the cost at the time he started to put pressure on us to cut corners.

The first real problem came up when he called a meeting and informed us that he had decided to have his engineer sign out the airplane as an annual inspection being completed. I informed him that I would not fly it in that case as the airplane would never come even close to meeting the requirements of an annual, so he turned to the Edwards and asked them if they would continue without me in the crew..........of course they said no.

So he finally agreed to have the DAR inspect the airplane for a ferry premit as first agreed upon, then the pressure started on me for him having to pay a thousand pounds to the DAR when he had his own mechanic availiable to sign it out, and for about three days it was very difficult to continue trying to ready the airplane for a test flight due to every time a mechanical problem arose he bitched about the money being wasted........................................Hey you guys know all about this kind of s.it so that was how things went from bad to worse.

Our problem was and is the large sum of money that is due to us and now the airplane is about ready to ferry and we just have to wait and see what happens.

The owner and his mechanic confronted me at breakfast on thursday morning and gave me an ultimatum, either I fly the ferry flight with the two of them and my partners were not to even sit in a pilots seat or he would find another pilot.

So I smiled and wished him a pleasant flight and went to my room and packed my bags and it was over.

Even though I was way behind the power curve financially before I left due to my disaster with those coc.suckers at 800 Burrard St I will never ever back down to pressure when safety and integrity is being compromized. So hopefully I can soon sell one or both of my Cessna 150's and that will ease the financial pressures.

By the way my wife is 100% behind my decision to risk looseing another couple thousand rather than ruin a career by bending to pressure. ( the airfare over and back )

The bottom line here is that aviation is not a career for those who cannot make difficult decisions and err on the side of safety, no matter what the short term cost.

I wouldn't choose any other kind of work anyhow because the plusses override the minuses. ( sp? )

So hopefully for those of you in this group that are just starting out I hope you think about the way I do things and pattern your decisions regarding safety based on my example.............

The short term pain is nothing compared to the possible consequences of compromizing your principals and ignoring safety issues for money or false pride.

Now I shall step down from my soap box and let you all ponder my desisions regarding stress and pressure issues and safety.

Rev. Chas W.

 

[Blackmac]

Rev. Welcome back and I think the heading should be, "getting smarter by the day".

The only decision to be made by a person with any integrity.

Did the remainder of the crew stay or leave?

Any options on recovering expenses?

As you are well aware contracts re elimination can be had very cheap in the area's he will be flying.

Cheers Don

 

[Charles W.]

Hi Don :

The Edwards Brothers and I spent most of thursday talking it over and weighing the options. Our decisions were to go back to the hangar and finish safetying some controlls and also to flush the right engine carb because it was full of water from the taxi test.... we agreed that regardless of money we would not chance leaving those safety related items unfinished so we went back and started work to get that done, ( about a day and a half labour for two people. ) however I had to go to Heathrow to get my return flight or it would just cost more money.

I phoned them yesterday and they are both at home waiting, having finished off the loose ends of our work on the airplane.

We have worked together so long in so many different countries that you couldn't force one of us to abandon one of the crew even if you shoved semtex up our asses.

The owner claims that Boeing ( he claims it is the helicopter division ) is sponsoring the Isreali purchase of that machine for the Isralei airforce, there were two israeli guys there when I first showed up. He also claims he is billing Boeing...we will see.

So I hope we will be paid as we are owed over twenty thousand pounds sterling at this point, that of course includes parts and other hired labour etc.

Your bang on on how easy people just dissapear in some countries, and the thought of course has crossed my mind, but alas it also cost's money.............

I also fantaize about having a couple of those scum from 800 Burrard St. as crew members with us in say Angola..............Angola is one of the more difficult places on earth for survival,, especially for idiots. Lets put it this way, if one of them went missing I could not in all fairness risk my regular crew members looking for them...its just good risk assesment and decision making skills based on common sense.

What happened to me in England is peanuts and all part of the game, what TC did to me is crimminal missuse of power for no reason except to protect one of their own..........sooner or later those immoral pricks in Tower C are going to find out they are screwing the wrong victim.........sooner or later they will find out I'm one of the toughest sons of bitches they will ever come up against and they will have to have me killed to stop me from getting my money back......I have no trouble making a public statement that for the Director Gemeral Civil Aviation to stand behind his last letter and state he approves and condones what was done puts him just a slight notch above a child molester in my opinion when it comes to morals.

Better still I have in writing invited the prick ( the Director General. ) to file a writ and take me in front of a Federal Court for lible.............I bet he hasen't got the balls to do that.

Jeeses Don here I go again losing focus on the subject and getting all riled up against TC.....I'm just flawed I guess.

Then again that was why I am forced to keep doing these jobs because I lost everything I had saved trying to fight TC. It is a vicious circle that just keeps turning and turning.


Rev. Chas W.

 

[Old Dog Flying]

Hi Chuck...glad to see someone in the aeronut world has the balls to say "Hell NO" when safety is a concern. From the crappy lack of airmanship I've been seeing lately, someone isn't doing a very good job of teaching the kids the finer points of airmanship...or driving an aeroplane either.

You've been off line for solong, I thought that some honey had finally "laid" you to rest.

Welcome back old dog

Barney

 

[downwash]

So, 'Old Dog,' haven't you noticed the difference in truck drivers, cab drivers, etc., etc. ..... well, I'm sure you get the point. I'm pretty damned sure it's not that the 'old dogs' aren't passing on the lore, as before, it's just that too few of the receivers are turned on. <_<

C.W. I know it's not at all a new milieu to you that you're playing in but, in this day and age, I've got to believe it's as important to get the 'out of pocket' stuff paid up front as it is to stand up for the principles on safety. And, if they're reluctant, as the man keeps saying, "I was looking for a job when I found this one." B)

 

[Biggles]

Hey Rev ! I mosied onto PPr to check out the Cat. Posted a note for ya. Great pics, excellent call as well. If only more folks stood up for what they believe in .

Biggs

 

[Charles W.]

Downwash :

Yeh, we are very careful to get money upfront, and we did on this one.

But with the amount of work to get that airplane ready for flight after having being parked outside in the elements for eight years we had to hire several other people to get the work done and the money problem just kept slipping sideways.

That was one of the reasons I went over when I did to try and get the problems sorted out.

My best guess is the owner ran out of money and was desperate to get the machine to Israel to collect from the Isrealis regardless of how many corners needed to be cut.

Anyhow we have worked together for a long time and we know when enough is enough.

Hopefully Boeing is involved ( the helicopter division ) because I doubt that Boeing would want any connection with a shaky deal.

Then again maybe the Israelis may back out of the deal and then we are really stuck......

I met one of the Israeli Airforce Generals who was there when I arrived and we had some good discussions, he asked me if I would train them on the PBY after we delivered it and I said sure, but I want to fly one of the Apache helicopters that will be escorting us from Crete to Tel Aviv.............he said hell thats no problem........then my little mercenary heart just started to beat faster anticipating getting my hooks around the controls of an Apache helicopter ...I wonder if they would let me fire some of the rockets and guns on the thing..........

I sure hope we do deliver it, I want so bad to fly something real different...........

Rev. Chas W.

 

[Flybabe]

Chuck -

Sorry about the email I sent ya, looks like I was "behind the power curve" as well...

I also think you made a good decision (now that I read what happened). This is the kind of thing that rookie pilots can get into trouble with, good of you to post the details. Hopefully it will make the difference for at least one pilot when it comes to standing behind a decicion to say NO!

 

[wridon]

I try very hard to impress on new students, the importance of maintaining their integrity and protecting their ass-ets, but I get them when they are paying me. I think the pressure is greater when they are pushed by those who are paying them.

B)

 

[graunch1]

No Charlie, you wouldn't want to fly that Apache into YVR harbour at Burrard street would you???

Glad to see you walked from the deal in the UK as it sounds like real trouble. <_<

 

[Charles W.]

No I wouldn't fly the Apache into 800 Burrard because we own the damn thing.

However I still am intent on finishing off what I started with a couple of TC types who deserve to be unemployed.

Getting back to the Apache, those Israli's don't f.ck around, they use them real effectively, I wanted to at least get to fly one, oh well maybe something will change and I may still go there to train them.

What rank should I ask for as a member of the Isralei airforce?

Maybe I could be a flying chaplin giving spititual and sexual gidance?

By the way, we still hope to get paid at least up to the present, and my wife finally spoke her mind about me getting shafted again.........she thinks that I do it because I am a nomad and a simple minded dreamer thinking only about playing with dangerous toys..............why are they so damn smart when it comes to things like that???

Rev. Chas W.

 

[downwash]

CW, I don't know if they're smart or not, but they're still with us aren't they???